Before & After: She can't take much more of this, Captain!

Hello--

This week's theme in the Kimber's Amazing Challenge Ladies group is faux stone. I was all ready to do a nice faux turquoise when I looked down at Julep Clara on my fingers and it changed my plans.

Here is Clara, a deep night-sky purple with tons of bright blue glass flecks:

Julep Clara, artificial light

  
 

This is more duochrome than it appears here; it's almost magenta at the edges in certain lights. The formula is wonderful, no application problems. As I was swatching it, I realized it reminds me of Orly Galaxy Girl, so I'll be doing a comparison of them for you. :)

Here is where I admit that I'm a leeeetle bit of a sci-fi geek, and maybe even a leeeetle bit of a Star Trek geek. So as I was looking at this polish and thinking about the night sky and the universe and aliens and stuff, and also had the whole 'faux stone' issue rolling around in my brain...and next thing I knew, 'dilithium crystals!' popped on out.

To create my faux crystals (that's a type of stone=rock=crystals, right??), I loosely sketcyed where I wanted my crystals to be with China Glaze Travel In Color, a topcoat that is supposed to shift the color of your polish just a bit, and add a hint of magic to it. Then, I took some Barry M Silver Foil, and mixed it with some Travel In Color, and used the mix to draw and outline over my crystal formations. Then, I put another layer of Travel in Color over the crystals:

I think the Travel In Color is really beautiful and creates a mystical crystalline feel. I do wish the lines of the outlines were a bit thinner...anyone have any tips on a good nail art brush that makes good thin lines?

Big hugs, and don't forget to check out the other faux stone manis below. :)

M.